Stephanie Ruff

Stephanie Ruff has spent her entire career in various facets of the equine industry. She was a freelance writer for many years, was the owner/editor of Arabian Finish Line, managing editor of Arabian Horse Life and content manager of Practical Horseman and Dressage Today before moving to The Horse. She has ridden many different disciplines, but for the last 20 years has focused on dressage. Stephanie has both a B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science from the University of Kentucky and has always had a keen interest in equine health, science, and research. A native of Pennsylvania, Stephanie enjoys hanging out with her Arabian and Half-Arabian mares, two German Shorthair Pointers, traveling and embracing the Florida lifestyle where she currently lives.

Articles by: Stephanie Ruff

Last Year’s Drought on This Year’s Pasture?

Throughout Kentucky, the summer of 1999 will be remembered for hot days and a lack of rain. While the drought and its effects were readily noted this past summer and fall, horse owners need to consider what the drought may have done to their

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Pennsylvania EIA Update

The amount of horses testing positive for Equine Infectious Anemia in Northeastern Pennsylvania has risen to 26. Of these horses, 25 have been humanely destroyed, while one horse remains under quarantine for life.

All horses can be

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Equine Programs Get Specific

Colleges and Universities around the country have been offering degrees in Equine Studies for years. Only recently have these colleges become more specialized in the degrees that they offer. Two colleges have made recent strides forward in their

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Testing Supplement Efficacy

How do you know if something, anything from a car to a blender to a vitamin supplement, works? You test it in a manner consistent with the way it’s going to be used, using specific, relevant measures of performance, and evaluate it according to those parameters.

Unfortunately, many equine nutritional and performance-enhancing supplements did not undergo such testing and evaluation

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West Nile Virus Detected in Washington

West Nile virus (WNV) has been detected in a dead raven collected near Newport, Wash. Testing at the National Wildlife Health Center Laboratory in Madison, Wisc., confirmed the virus. This is the first WNV detection in Washington, according to

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Australian Horse Council Investigating Industry Insurance

The Australian Horse Industry Council has received funding to begin a process to help the industry with Public Liability Insurance (PLI). The group is developing a code of practice, implementation guides, risk management regimes, and an

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Equine Salmonellosis in the United States and Kentucky

Salmonella spp. cause a multitude of diseases in horses, including diarrhea, abscesses, septicemia, and other ailments. Over 2,200 serotypes of salmonellae are known and can be identified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories

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Airway Health

Many trainers judge the health of their horses’ airways by listening to the sounds the animals make while they are exercising. Airway Dynamics of Midway, Ky., is doing the same thing more scientifically by using high-tech equipment. Veterinarian David Lambert and Robert West Jr., who operates Millford Farm, own the company.

Airway Dynamics demonstrated its information-gathering

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Fall Deworming

Fall is approaching rapidly and brings with it such predictable events as raking leaves, Thanksgiving dinner, and weekend football. Autumn also heralds changes in parasite activity that are equally predictable. However, just as the environmental

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West Nile Virus Alert!

by Kimberly S. Herbert and Stephanie L. Church

West Nile virus is a dangerous and scary disease, and it is spreading across North America very quickly. However, this is one of the few times when horses have it better than humans when it

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Halternatives

The past 15 years, various techniques have resulted in a type of Arabian “halter” presentation that poses the horse in a now-familiar stance. What is missing in this presentation? To me it’s the evidence of trust, affection, and mutual esteem

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Carnivorous Horses

While taking questions from the audience at a one-day behavior program in New Zealand this May, a well-respected horse owner and trainer described behavior she had recently witnessed in a horse involving a scenario I had never heard or thought

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Bedding Benefits and Risks

Most horse owners take great pride in providing their horses with clean, nice-looking stalls; some of us might even throw in that extra bit of bedding for added comfort. But could we be unknowingly harming our horses more than helping them? Let’

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Feed for Speed

Few dispute that nutrition is important for athletic performance in racehorses. However, I’d wager that there is much less agreement among horse owners, nutritionists, and veterinarians when asked to expound upon the “nitty gritty” of what works

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